For me, it couldn't be simpler: I'm poor. If I spend more than $40 a week at the grocery store, I will not have money for gas to get to work. I accept that fact, and I don't spend more than $40.

It helps that I tend to buy the same 20 things every single week. Then, when I've gotten those, I usually have about five bucks left in my budget to buy something I don't usually get, and that's my treat for the week.

I don't get this "overspending" thing. Either you have the money to get those chips, or you're spending your rent money on chips and you have a problem.

I used to hate pizza. The only pizza I ever had access to as a child was school cafeteria breadtangle pizza, and too-sweet slightly-burnt frozen "pizza."
Then in college I discovered the wonders of authentic, small-town, brick-oven-fired pizza, and that was all I consumed thenceforth.

If I had my druthers, I would have the traditional every morning: eggs and toast, or oatmeal, or pancakes.
However, in the name of transparency, the following is a list of things I HAVE eaten for breakfast, and my God have mercy on my soul:
-Half a package of Fig Newtons
-Ramen noodles with a raw egg in them
-V8 juice and tequila
-Chocolate frosting on saltine crackers
-A cold kimchi sandwich

My mother is practically a home farmer. She has three huge beds that take up most of her small property, and spends most of her free time out there "tending the crops." Last years we had: corn, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, soybeans, bell peppers, blackberries, raspberries, carrots, and even pumpkins. This year she's adding sunflowers and watermelons to the list!

Just recently, I had been doing some hot and sweaty work, and when I came inside there was lemonade in the fridge. I swear, that glass of lemonade was the single most beautiful and memorable thing I've ever put in my mouth. It was heaven.

All I know is that a guy on the paleo diet recently told me he gets half his calories from fat. I'm sorry, but I will never believe that is healthy no matter how many self-proclaimed "experts" tell me it is.

I have never even heard of most of these flavors! I am partial to the Hot&Spicy myself. They are just barely spicy enough to notice it, so that you can easily eat half the box without having to stop for a drink. Not that I would know that or anything.

The instant I heard the first radio commercial for these, touting the "flavor of Hollandaise" (meaning, no actual Hollandaise was harmed in the making of these sandwiches), I thought to myself, "I can't wait for Serious Eats to slam these."

As of late, I find myself completely over the influx of caramel-infused sweets pervading the dessert market, especially those of the salted variety. Whether it be cakes,beverages, or cookies, caramel seems to be inescapable. My main issue with caramel is that it doesn't include any ingredients that aren't already in the dessert, most of the time. Sugar and butter aren't exactly exciting flavors to me.

Anyone else tired of riding the Caramel Train? Or have any other dessert trends that are bugging the heck out of them right now?

This is a reiteration of a post someone has already made, but SE really needs to make a method of sorting search results by date. It is very difficult to know if your question has recently been answered when your first search result is from 2011 and the next is from last week.

I want to make an apple tart this weekend, and I was thinking of using store-bought pie crust as the base, because last time I used puff pastry and I don't like the way it... well... puffs.

I was thinking of just laying the apple slices on the crust and baking it, but I feel like the crust will get too soggy, like the bottom crust of an apple pie tends to be. Do you think I should bake the crust for a few minutes before putting the apples on? My concern then is that the crust will burn before the apples cook fully. What do you guys think?

I bake for my boyfriend's coworkers every week, and I wanted to find a dessert that incorporated my favorite food - watermelon. I don't want it to include artificial flavoring (sacrilege) and it must be able to survive a 9-hour work day without refrigeration, but other than that, anything goes. Does such a recipe even exist?

I work as a stagehand at a theatre, and the other stagehands and I want to bake something for our cast. I don't want it to get all over the dressing rooms, so something non-messy would be ideal (no frosting, nothing very dark-colored, etc). I also would like to feed them something that may actually nourish them for their performance - something with a little bit of protein and less sugar, but still treat-like. Maybe some sort of quick bread...?

Does anyone remember the Blue Raspberry Pop-Tarts?
They had a filling that was blue and white striped, which entertained me to no end as a ten-year-old (so we're talking at least a decade ago). The best part was that the sprinkles on top were white, but when you toasted the thing, they turned color.
I'm guessing they were discontinued, but I can't even find them on lists of bygone Pop-Tarts. Did I imagine them? They blew my mind.

I'm a Lutheran, and we physically cannot gather without the presence of food. When I was younger, someone always used to bring these particular cookies to church gatherings. They were your basic thumbprint cookie, a buttery shortbread with a round, filled depression in the middle. These were filled not with jam but with a kind of sugary, icing-like substance that was firm yet yielding, and which crumbled and dissolved in the mouth. It was also invariably a violent bubble-gum pink. I am fairly sure they were store-bought. Does anyone have any idea what these were called or where they might hail from? I've had the weirdest calling lately to pursue them.

First of all, forgive me if this question has been asked before, for some reason the search function is not working for me. I want to frost a layer cake with a plain ol' whipped cream frosting (just heavy cream and powdered sugar). Do you think I can pipe it on, or will it melt and flatten in the piping bag? I really appreciate y'all's knowledge.

I made tiramisu the other day, and the recipe made forty seven times as much custard as I needed. I was thinking of making a simple shortbread thumbprint cookie, and using the custard as the filling. What do we think will happen if I bake that stuff? The ingredients are simply egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, and mascarpone cheese.

I made tiramisu this evening for my boyfriend's birthday, and it is making me want to punch faces. My latest issue is that it has been in the fridge for 4 hours and the ladyfingers are still quite hard. What did I do wrong? I dipped them in the espresso mixture for a very short time for fear of sogginess, but I mean... they've been soaking in creamy custardy goodness for four hours now! ughhhhhhfacepunchingggg

Lately my I have been taking my gym time very seriously. I'm trying to stick to a diet that will compliment my workout regimen, so I am trying to get at least 30% of my calories from protein - that's 150 grams of protein a day. (Just for reference, two servings of straight-up pure protein powder only has 50 grams.)

I am a vegetarian, so animal protein isn't available to me. I'm also allergic to nuts. (I know, it's like I'm just being difficult.) I have been eating a lot of chickpeas, egg whites, quinoa, and greek yogurt, but it's still not enough. Can anyone recommend some foods that are VERY high in protein?

So about 4 years ago, my best friend and I got hot chocolate at a place in Greenwich Village. It was a small place, with hardly any seating and, as I recall, very little decor. They sold mostly sandwiches, soup, salads, etc. The details are sketchy because my consciousness was occupied 100% by this hot chocolate I was drinking. It was not only amazing in flavor, but so light I swear it went through Willy Wonka's chocolate waterfall. Its defining characteristic was its almost pink color, like I was drinking some sort of magical unicorn juice. Sadly, I can no longer remember the place, nor its exact location in the Village. Does anyone have any ideas?